Highway sewer



May 4, 1948.

J. J. HART 2,440,857

HIGHWAY SEWER Filed April 18, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheetl Ill, f f

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INVENTOR l l l 'John J. Hart ////l// m43@ J.`J. HART HIGHWAY SEWER May 4, 1948.

2 sheets-sheet v2 Filed April 18, 1945 INVENTOR A John J Hart Paantea May 4,1948 n 2,440,357

` HIGHWAY SEWER-1..

JohnslnlfartgPttsburghyPa'. Appliatiunmpgi'ris 1945;"seriar'Nm15sses s zrzoraims. (C1. 182% Y 1r 2,-

Thisfinvention' relatesktoehightvayrsewersYr-andi Wayfcorrespondingfto the. vnOrmaLJheight: oihthe their *installations ande'is *for raf' ysewerfwhich A \i curb: cheaper? more' esanitaryvand's more@readily;l Tlesewer :embodying ztherfpresentA invention'lhas'. r stalled than-those-heretofore2inffuse:\ arreceivingsort'catchrbasinrZ. 1. This :is formednby-` Heretofrefinthe*construction.ofse-Wersof thier 5in firstff digging:y an: appropriate: excavation. i Four@ type; receivinglcl'asinsfofargef'capacity-have*beenT precast fslabsrare.:the1fr setfin` place;` providing thee built1 in Isitu;Erl GenerallifsomeWeir and-baiie-arw= furverticalfwalls of"theichamberff- Thereffares rangement provided the trap, resulting '-irirthe two .end Wallfsla'b's whicharedesignate'd; These# maintenance 0f *arlll'ge sbiodyioiristagnants'water arezordinarily'fiiat' slabs A@whichinlaybetreinorced andimuckl atthe-'bottnr -ofeth'e receivirigrbsin-r 10 ifiesiredteand .'.Which arez cast to "desiredrrhei'ght From-"time--to tim-cathoaccumulation*ofrimuckg' anch thickness, There'aisvatlrear walls4 @which leaves;iltheandidehris'flias twbe'fclanedroutr' alsof-afl'at slabiofrprecast concrete fandrwhich; In'smallr cities-thvi`s---is`A usuallraclaborious andr` need-berrie-talsoreinforced: This .isifanfordina' disagreeable manual task whereas in larger'citie'sw rectangular slab; except...for the'factrthatri special equipment has been provided tofaidrwith l-zwardlyiSironi-:its.lfverticala'edgeslsand'fdownwarcilyf this WO1-k f In anymcase i-,hf highWa-'y-fseWer-is frbmafthe s-toprit lis provided zwith fabutments --fwhi'chrz usually;"ane-unsanitarm exrllerrsiveestructure:I y ItM are'fon theinne-r lf acef thereof ,t and"y which arefdesfmust 'becleanedironrtimcftotinle;n ignated-Il Thesev-labutments,areipreferably'lcastfr Tli'presentf-'invention `provideswa -sewerwa integrally withlithe. sla-b, and;arersetzinwardly'i method ofinstall-ing-the' sameetliatsu'bstantia, :201%4 fr'om'the :vertical edges of the s1'ab';ll a, edstance: reduces" installation and' providesr'arlsewe equal to'.y the .thickness elf the end :walls-'3.1 Inflieu'f which isalmost ifnotefentielyseliclaningeandl offintegral: concretefrabutments,s, the abutments'l whichrequires finnnost instances-only the-usefof--i may'be'fformedfby metal inserts castor oth'erwvisevY a high pressure hose for-anoccasionahele'anecuiaZ securedin-rplace-A Ourthe-inner face-fof the -frearf It' eliminatesftheusualzessapoolalikeconditionfat 25"wall slab; Thereiislalsoza.frontwallslab B which" the-bottomof'thefsewerf1 Itithrefref'isiusefulfliri-fisipr'ecastr and which@ also may be reinforced: It',

Aocordingftoimyrinventiom* the econstructionf. .offthe *copla/projecting pillar portion7 8;?r Thef'pilis flargelycomprised ofprecasticoncreteslabsiande mibarsw'f arefvloff'ai height .predeterminedlby fthey a preformedtrapwitlr'tlie'trapeadingirma#- heighi ofMth-'curbi above: the` street level'-, Bei--l vertical Wallfof tire-basir'r.r` Aftr-m'aking-ztle' nee-s.`v tweenfthepillars'8,`tlietop-of the slab is at- 'a--lower essary-fexcavation, thecontractorfmay"quicklw leve-lf vThe-slab@may 4be cast-With-a lmlmber yof installthe seWerMwitli'ia'setiofslabsrandia small* vertically-projecting regularly spacedbars 9; the amount elf-concrete. f 35"*tpsflotthesebars preferably being: flush with.- the f Figrl'is Ia transverse section through a sewer guard` ongein-"at the top ofthe sewer-inlet whichinstanauon emhodyinglmmnyennmishowing its weistpmvieee lay-the reeessedfparteof-the .slab ble- -v relation with respect to the `highway and sicletweerrlthevpillarsf-.B- Onv the inner-face'fof-ftheL Walk? A front sla1bf6- are abutments =lwhich-are fprer'er-f Fig. 2 is a similar longitudiiiahl'seetitiminether abiti:simifla'i-ly''forrneoland-similarly1locatedtothe plane of lineJIT-IlichFiggplfianclfviewed in the l, abltments Elon-thennerffaeeepf the rearsla'bfdirection of the arrows in Ilgl; `Alditionally;foreth'e top off the receiving cham-'-` f Fig? 3"-is a perspective vievveof` the precastviele' ber there is a precast slab l! which also mayjoeil ments fassembledwinthe re'latmwhich they-ow reinforced Aand -Which iis'- of 'a dimensicnsuilici'ent cupy in the completedssewerrande tovcoveifthectop ofl-fthe'receivingf chamber." It' l Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the isi'preferablyprovidedrwith 'a central opening-|2` parts shown in Fig. 3. '50 -`crmntersu-nkiarounclthe`v topedge'to receive-'av Iritheidawings"and^referreing^particu1rly to manhole coverr-k O'I'1-its"u'nder lsur-face, set-r in Figs.-1"an'd"2, S "designateshthewstreet 01"hghwardly'from'eachcernerytherefmay'befa down'- Way, and W is the sidewalk. The top of the sewer wardly projecting abutment I3, these abutments is ush with the sidewalk and there is a drop at I3 being so positioned that they will contact the edge of the sewer to the paving of the high- 55 the faces of the intersecting Walls in the several corners. walk.

In the making of the sewer, the necessary excavation is rst dug. The excavation usually includes a trench leading from the front of the excavation toward the middle of the street where the trunk sewer is generally located. After the necessary excavation has been made, the front and rear Vslabs are set in place, care being taken that they -are exactly plumb. yThen the end walls 3 are set into place and they serve to hold the front and back panels from being pushed together. and front walls respectively serve to position the tops of the end walls and prevent them from The top is level with the side- The abutments 5 and l0 on the rear moving or being pushed inwardly. When the front and end walls have been set in placca precast or preformed large diameter terra cotta concrete, or other trap shaped conduit of a gen'- eral U form is placed in the excavation leading forwardly from the catch basin to thev trunk sewer. This trap is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and is ldesignated 'HL The trap is preferably set in concrete so as to be immovable and avoid subsequent settling. In some instances vthe traps may be installed immediately after the exca-V vation is made and before the walls of the catch basin are put into place. The receiving end of the trap I4, designated Ma, is received in the U-shaped opening 1 in the front wall of the receiving basin. The extreme inner end of the trap is'` hush with the inner face of the front wall t3.` When this assembly has been completed, concrete is poured into the bottom of the chamber and is trowele'd or otherwiseshaped so as to slope from the back and the ends toward the receiving opening of the trap. This mass of concrete designated 2a, hardens and serves to x the bottoms of the precast slabs in proper relation to each other. A calking or sealing compound may then be lled in along the corners and around the mouth of the trap. For example in Figs. l and 2 this sealing or calking is designated I5. Since the purpose of these sewers is to carry surface water away, it is not too important that all of the joints be absolutely tight, as leakage of some water into the:

ground will do no harm.

The other end of the trap i4 is of course connected through an appropriate conduit designated I6 to the trunk sewer not shown. When the installation has been otherwise complete and the concrete has been poured in around the outside of the slabs, and the sides of the excavation, the cover Il is set into place. The abutments i3 on the inner face of the cover engage in the corners of the receiving chamber and hold the cover against shifting and also serve as further abutments to keep the tops of the vertical slabs from pressing inwardly toward each other. The sewer is set of course so that the lip 6a, between the pillars 8 is iiush with the street S. In the iinished sewer the inlet opening to the sewer is provided at I1 and the metal bars 9 form a grill to prevent large objects from being swept into the sewer.

Highway sewers may thus be quickly and economically built. The precasting of the slabs requires merely that at each sewer location a set of the slabs along with the trap be unloaded from a truck. The truck may conveniently have a derrick for aiding in handling the slabs and in- '4 serting them. While the bottom might also be precast, it is preferable to cast the bottom in situ so as to accommodate for possible unevenness in the depth of the excavation and other irregularities, and more effectively seal the bottom of the receiving basin.

The trap I4 may be of a dimension to carry off water as fast as it can enter the receiving basin. However the only body of water that is present las a. seal lsthat contaiiedin` the trap and the large mass of water and muck which is now nor- ,mally present in the receiving basins of highway "sewers is eliminated. If the velocity of the water is not sucient to sweep sediment out of the trap, .l5

the sewers may be periodically cleaned in a very simple'manner merely by lifting the manhole cover, inserting a hose, and projecting a high velocity stream through the trap.

,An important feature of the construction of the present sewer is the opening of the receiving end of the trap into'the side wall of the sewer. If the trap were formed in the bottom of thesewer, sticks and, otherdebris mightvfall endwise into the trap, causing it to clog. By providing the trap opening in the side wall, sticks of a size whichvmight otherwise cause difficulty are not likely -to enter in such manner as to work'into' the trap.

While I have illustrated and described one spe- Ycie embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications maybe made within the contemplation of-my invention and under the scope of the following claims. y

Aliclaim: H

l. `A highway sewer comprisinga wall and botfV tom and top portions providing a catch basin-,a separate oifset preformed. U-shaped conduit leading through the wall.V at the bottom thereof to a sewer line to provide a trap, the trap being below the -bottom ofthe basin and said bottom being shaped to drain all water therefrom to the trap, and means at the top of the wall to provide'a highway sewer inlet opening. A 1

2. rA highway sewer comprising a precast iront and back panel and ropposite precast end panels, the panels abutting along their intersecting edges, a bottom` formed insituv withinA` the connes -of the assembled panels and being shaped to drain al1 water to the bottom edge of one panel, said panels and bott-om forming a catch basin,v an oilset precast U-shaped trap-havingone end open-Y ing through the bottom edge of the panel against which the water drains, a precast cover slabfon top of the panels having a central opening covered by a manhole cover, andY means at the top ing.

l JOHN J. HART, REFERENCES Vorrido The following references are of record in the le of this patent? fi Y Great Britain T Dec. 24, 1908 of a panel to provide highway sewer inlet open- 

